Warriors put final touches on overhaul

Warriors

Updated 12:22 am, Tuesday, July 31, 2012

The Warriors all but completed their offseason overhaul Monday, coming within signatures of finalizing three deals that will give them their most balanced and deepest season-opening roster since the 55-win squad of 1991-92.

Golden State agreed to terms with prized free-agent power forward Carl Landry (two years for $8 million with a player option in Year 2, according to agent Mark Bartelstein) and second-round pick Draymond Green (three years for about $2.6 million, according to league sources).

Those deals leave the Warriors about $4 million under the $70.307 million luxury tax threshold to re-sign reserve swingman Brandon Rush, whom the Warriors have called their "top free-agent priority," and Bartelstein said a deal there should be complete within "a day or two."

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Warriors will get the three contracts signed this week and conclude a whirlwind offseason. They've pieced together three surgeries, four draft selections, a three-team trade and two free-agent signings that seem to make perfect sense in forming a 15-man roster.

In April, the Warriors announced that Andrew Bogut, Stephen Curry and David Lee would have surgeries. Shutting down the three starters and sitting other experienced players down the stretch helped them lose 17 of their final 20 games and secure the No. 7 overall draft pick.

In June, the Warriors upgraded their small forward spot by selecting Harrison Barnes and Green and found a much-needed backup center by grabbing Festus Ezeli at the end of the draft's first round. All three showed signs of being draft steals during the summer league in Las Vegas.

This month, the Warriors completed a three-team trade, getting guard Jarrett Jack in a deal that shipped Dorell Wright to Philadelphia and eliminated the glut of small forwards on the roster. Then, they signed summer-league defensive sensation Kent Bazemore, who showed the ability to guard four positions, and came to terms with Landry.

In Landry, a 6-foot-9, 248-pound 28-year-old, the Warriors get a player capable of backing up Lee and Bogut as Ezeli develops. Landry isn't the lockdown defender and rabid rebounder that the Warriors sought in free agency, but he immediately becomes the team's most efficient low-post scorer - a long-time sore spot.

Landry has averaged 12.1 points and 5.1 rebounds over his five-season NBA career. His best season was 2009-10, when he averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds for Houston and Sacramento, and he averaged 12.5 points and 5.2 rebounds for New Orleans last season, when he made $9 million.

The Warriors appear on the verge of getting a similar bargain for Rush, who was unable to get an offer sheet from an opponent - though Minnesota and the Lakers showed interest. The Warriors made it clear that they would match any prudent offer, and they should get him for less than the $4.3 million qualifying offer that made Rush a restricted free agent in the first place.

After three seasons of toiling in and out of the doghouse in Indiana, Rush had a career season for coach Mark Jackson after being traded to the Warriors for Lou Amundson. The 6-6, 225-pounder, who turned 27 this month, averaged 9.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and shot 45.2 percent from three-point range as the Warriors' most consistent player off the bench and among the most versatile.

Whether Green ends up logging more minutes at small or power forward, the Warriors will go into training camp in October with three legitimate players at each of the five positions for the first time in decades.

Warriors free agent guard Nate Robinson agreed to terms with Chicago, but there was some talk late Monday that their other significant free agent, Dominic McGuire, might still be in the mix.

It's hard to imagine how the Warriors could sign the infectious energy guy without moving Charles Jenkins or Bazemore or getting Andris Biedrins to agree to a buyout with two years and $18 million left on his deal.

Filling out the roster

The Warriors overhauled their roster this offseason, drafting three players, signing two free agents and making a trade. Here's a look at their projected depth chart:

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